Decolonizing Antiracism
A study guide of Lawrence and Dua’s academic 2005 article ‘Decolonizing Antiracism’
Summary, part 5
Taking on decolonization
Additional Context
Decolonization: “Decolonisation is now used to talk about restorative justice through cultural, psychological and economic freedom.
In most countries where colonisers remain, Indigenous people still don't hold significant positions of power or self-determination. These nations are termed "settler-colonial" countries - a term made popular in the 1990s by academic Patrick Wolfe, who said "invasion is a structure not an event". (The Conversation, 2020).
Lawrence and Dua recommend three topics that should be taken up for further consideration:
“Aboriginal sovereignty is a reality that is on the table” (p. 137). How can anti-racist activists and scholars factor Aboriginal sovereignty into their organizing and scholarship?
“Taking colonization seriously changes antiracism in powerful ways” (p. 137). Within academia, for example, antiracist theorists should factor in how Indigenous struggle reframes knowledge (e.g., how we learn about race and racism).
“The failure of antiracist activists to make the ongoing colonization of Indigenous peoples foundational to their agendas is also important” (p. 137). There is a need to discuss how antiracist and aboriginal activists can talk about antiracism in “ways that don’t disempower aboriginal peoples” (p. 137).
Lawrence and Dua also highlight other observations from their article:
They chose to write this article in one voice because they wanted to provide a synthesis while using a pluralistic method
They acknowledge that they were unable to center Indigenous frameworks in this piece since they were critiquing other frameworks
“For true dialogue to occur, antiracist theorists cannot privilege or insist on the primacy of postcolonial or critical race theory as ultimate ‘truths’” (p. 137).
Several questions are posed to Native communities, including…
How did colonial legislation impact their understanding of racialization?
How can their communities “shape antiracism project to address violence colonization has inflicted on indigenous identity” (p. 138)?
How can Indigenous communities think about racial thinking in relation to Native identity and nationhood? How can we do so while moving beyond re-traditionalization and deconstruction?
How has Western thought reduced Indigeneity to biology?
How can Indigenous communities continue to do their work with a good heart?